ափն

The origin is uncertain.

Benveniste connected with Proto-Germanic *ōferaz and Ancient Greek ἤπειρος (ḗpeiros), assuming a Proto-Indo-European basic heteroclitic r/n-stem, where Armenian would have generalized the n-stem variant, according to Olsen, "probably *h₂apén-, *ə₂pén- → ափին (apʻin) on the basis of the locative singular, evidently an important case form in a word of this meaning". According to Kroonen, if the appurtenance of Armenian is accepted, the ablauting heteroclitic can be reconstructed as nominative *h₂éh₁/h₂p-r, genitive *h₂h₁/h₂p-én-s.

The above etymology is rejected by Pokorny and Beekes on phonetic grounds: the sound change of Proto-Indo-European *p → Old Armenian -փ- (-pʻ-) is irregular. Beekes remarks that we may be dealing with a substrate word.

ափն • (apʻn)

1. edge (e.g. of a gorge, pit, well, city, grave, etc.)
2. shore, bank, coast (of a water body)

• Armenian: ափ (apʻ)

• Petrosean, Matatʻeay (1879) “ափն”, in Nor Baṙagirkʻ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Awetikʻean, G., Siwrmēlean, X., Awgerean, M. (1836–1837) “ափն”, in Nor baṙgirkʻ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Benveniste, Émile (1935) Origines de la formation des noms en indo-européen (in French), Paris: Adrien-Maisonneuve, page 15
• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1971) “ափն”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume I, Yerevan: University Press, page 365b
• Pokorny, Julius (1959) “āpero-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 53
• Olsen, Birgit Anette (1999) The noun in Biblical Armenian: origin and word-formation: with special emphasis on the Indo-European heritage (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 119), Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pages 136–137
• Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “ἤπειρος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 523
• Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*ōf(e)ra-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 394